Farewell
by itsluciole
Summary: Carol's last moments. The Cherokee Rose is fading and Daryl has no other choice but to let her go.


"Daryl."

"Yea, I know."

A relieved smile crossed Carol's face. Of course he would do it; she didn't even have to ask him. Rick handed him the gun and stared at him with concern, but she didn't see more because her attention drew back to Beth, squatted next to her with Judith in her arms, too young to understand what was happening. She rose up and Carol smiled at her as a final goodbye. The young girl joined the others and gave the baby to her older sister before coming back inside the prison. Hell, she would have wanted to see that baby girl growing up! See her first steps, hear her first words, helping her to grow and protect her from the awful world they were living in.

But things don't always happen the way you want to, she learned her lesson a long time ago. Maybe life thought she needed a reminder of what a bitch she was because it was the only explanation for that big ugly wound on her shoulder. A bite, it was all that it took for her to be done, over; doomed.

But she didn't want to die in a cell; she spent enough time in prison. She had been in jail her entire life –maybe not physically, but she had- and even if she loved her new family more than she ever loved the man who was supposed to be her family, she wanted to die below the sky, with the wind on her face and the grass under her feet.

Her back against the prison's front wall, she looked up at the sky. She remembered that when she woke up this morning, she found the sky bluer than usual. Not flashy or painful-to-the-eyes-blue, no, more like… _peaceful_ blue. A blue that make you think "This day is gonna be good". What a mild irony.

She already said goodbye to everyone, and when Daryl came and sat next to her, he was the last one. The last face she would ever see. He put his arm around her shoulder, and she leaned on him, her short hair gently caressing his neck.

Somehow, she always knew it would end up this way. She didn't want to die, but she wasn't afraid to either. She came from so far. She remembered the scared little thing, the quiet shadow she used to be and for the first time in her life, she felt proud of herself. She became so strong, achieved so much; it was just the final point of her journey. And she knew exactly what was waiting for her at the end. Oh she waited _so long_ for this.

"I'm finally gonna see my little girl again."

Daryl looked down at her as she was smiling to the sunset and there was something soft in her eyes; bathed in the soft light of the sunset, she looked… peaceful. He felt his heart slowly sinking within him.

"I'll say 'Hi' to your brother for you." she added with the same untroubled expression.

He smirked. He made his mourning and Merle was long gone; but strangely, talking to him with her was feeling incredibly right. He was capable of sharing so much with her because they were alike. She knew what it was like to be abused, to feel like crap, to hide behind a façade. But the more important thing, she knew what it was like to lose someone you care about, to lose family. So of course she knew that at some point, you come to talk about the people you lost and feel a sweet little itch instead of a burning ache.

"Yea, take that chance to kick his ass, too. That bloody moron." he finally said.

They became silent again, and the silence was like an old friend quietly contemplating the landscape with them. After a while, he could hear her breath becoming heavy and feeling the heat through her clothes. She must have felt it was near because she moistened her lips one last time and took what seemed to be her remaining strength and whispered:

"Thank you."

Words were not enough to express how much she was grateful but she needed to say it. Because sometimes, even if words are not enough, some things need to be said. It may just be the spark of a burning fire, but it was important. He would understand what she meant like he always did.

Thank you for the group. Thank you for Sophia. Thank you for her - for helping her heal and grow, for helping her stand by his simple presence, for letting her in, for making her second chance worth it. Thank you for everything he ever did and would have done for her, would still do when she'll be gone. Thank you for all the smiles, jokes, laughs and complicity. _Thank you for being you._

She drew her last breath silently and she almost looked as she was sleeping, except that her breast wasn't lifting at the rhythm of her breath; not anymore, not ever.

His fist crashed into the wall so hard he felt the blood flowing between his fingers. "Damn it."

His fingers tightened on the gun and he took a deep breath. It was done before he could even remember pulling the trigger. He took her in her arms and remembered the time he found her hiding from walkers in a room when the prison was invaded. But the last time she was alive and he was taking her to the others; this time he was just carrying a dead boby to the grave.

He buried her next to Lori and T-Dog's grave. The fresh soil looked weird next to the two others, which were covered by grass and only had cross to mark their presence, and stared at it. He waited until the sun has disappeared and finally came back to the prison.

She was gone, and with her all that was, all that would never be. But somehow, his loneliness felt less heavy when he thought of the little girl in the woods that was finally reunited with her mother.

* * *

_.

I hope there's not to many grammatical errors (but if you see them please tell me so i can correct!). I'm french but these days I really feel like everything comes in english and i just couldn't write it in french so I hope it's still okay!


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